The Dodgers are joining in with the rest of baseball in taking extra steps to avoid a Coronavirus outbreak. While there is not necessarily a fear of the virus reaching camp, it is being done out of an overabundance of caution.
#Dodgers CEO Stan Kasten said team is gathering information, in contact with LA Public Health Dept. Will talk to players on Friday about coronavirus and necessary precautions. So far, cancelling games or playing in empty stadiums has not been discussed or even suggested
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) March 5, 2020
The Coronavirus, or COVID-19, is a respiratory illness that is capable of spreading person to person. Teams around the Major Leagues have already stopped signing autographs fro fans or have encouraged players to not take items from fans to sign. The Dodgers could potentially head down that path if things get extreme.
One thing of note, players might be told to curtail signing autographs. The person-to-person contact of passing baseballs, pens, etc. is something that is not recommended by public health officials. "We might have to moderate that behavior," Kasten said.
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) March 5, 2020
If the Dodgers were forced to stop signing autographs, they may look to another method being utilized around the league. Some teams have taken to signing balls ahead of time and passing them out during would-be autograph sessions.
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Dodgers’ CEO and President Stan Kasten elaborated on the team’s efforts to make sure their players stay safe.
We’re not completely clear yet on what is best, but we get new information every day. We all are operating with the same information. None of it’s great news, but they have stressed also that this is not a time to be panicking. So, we are in the process of finalizing what kind of procedures we’ll be doing going forward.
We feel that based on the recent fears of the Coronavirus perpetuated by media outlets, we must stress that there is no current threat to the team or organization at the moment with this virus. The Dodgers have simply taken measures to ensure that this will never be an issue.
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